Zero Punctuation- Video Game Reviews At Full Speed
Let's face it. There are some pretty terrible games coming out. Yet at the same time, there are a ton of overhyped games that everyone freaks lauding them as if they were something akin to the second coming. That's why Yahtzee Croshaw exists.

Yahtzee Croshaw is the genius behind Zero Punctuation, a weekly video weblog done for The Escapist, a web-based gaming magazine. Now, the Escapist features a large number of game reviews, but none of them are structured in the brilliant way that Yahtzee's are. The videos are animates in an incredibly simple way, with round white figures that are just barely a step up from stick figures on a yellow background. However, the charm of it comes from the way that the videos are performed. The name, of course, comes from the rapid-fire narrative style that Yahtzee employs, which often finds one wondering just where one rant-filled sentence ends and another begins. The animation style is simplistic, yet is infinitely versatile, which makes the video just as hilarious as the audio (at least, if you can keep up with it). But the best part is that for the most part, Yahtzee is completely spot on about the problems with video games today. Every game has to have at least one ridiculously clunky vehicle section, one "Press a button or you die horribly" God of War style section, and allied AI that is terrible whereas enemy AI is awesome.

It's easy to say that Yahtzee simply doesn't like games. But at the same time, I find myself in agreement with him a lot lately. Most of the games that have been overhyped recently turned out to be absolutely terrible (with the exception of The World Ends With You, which was phenomenal, but that's beside the point), or at the very least in the same vein of "not all that bad" as other games like it to the point that they might as well be the same game. Generally, Yahtzee's biggest complaint is that games either try too hard to be Halo and then fail, or try too hard to be different, and then fail again. And I have to agree with him.

Check him and the rest of the crew out at The Escapist. Until Next Time...
03:57 PM PDT Permalink |

My Netflix Queue: Getting Back In The Swing
It's been a while, but I've finally gotten my Netflix back up and running, which means that there are a couple of things that I'm interested in picking up and watching. You can expect them coming up in the next couple weeks.

Ghost in the Shell: The Laughing Man and Ghost in the Shell 2nd GIG: Individual Eleven- The Ghost in the Shell television series has always been top-notch, with really involved cases and developed characters. However, one of the biggest issues with the series is that sometimes the plot can get so convoluted that when one of the many stand-alone side episodes comes around, it's easy to lose track of things. That's where these DVDs come in. Essentially, these OVAs are condensed versions of the full plotlines of the two seasons, put into movie form. For those who got lost in the plots of the two seasons, these two DVDs should help people sort things out. I'm looking forward to seeing just how effective it is at that.

Death Note- Everywhere I go, I hear that this is an absolutely excellent show, and everyone tells me that it's the best thing they've ever seen. Now, most of the time, I dismiss things like that, but back when I had my subscription to Shonen Jump, I saw the preview of the manga that they ran, and I was impressed. Now that it's come out on DVD, I get the chance to see whether or not it actually lives up to the hype that it's garnered.

If anyone has any suggestions for other stuff I should watch (and review), feel free to drop me a line via E-Mail. Until Next Time...

Also, one extra thing. I reviewed a delightful little freeware game called Cave Story a couple weeks back, and I just found out some great news- Apparently, Cave Story is being released with improved graphics and music for WiiWare. It should be out in time for the holiday season, for around 500-1000 points. I highly urge everyone to get it- you won't be disappointed.
03:39 PM PDT Permalink |

Disgaea DS- Bringing Back An Old Favorite
Disgaea is probably one of the best-known Strategy RPGs around. The product of Nippon Ichi Softwarel, the Disgaea series features a battle system that is in some ways similar to other SRPGs, but in other ways completely alien. Definitely not a game for people new to the SRPG scene, Disgaea offers an impressive gameplay experience for veterans of the genre.

Disgaea DS is by no means a new game. It is, however, a much-needed port of the first Disgaea game, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Released in 2003, Hour of Darkness is still one of the most popular SRPGs, despite the fact that it is now out of print. It's for that reason that this port is so welcome. It breathes life back into the series, just in time for the announcement of the latest title in the series, Absence of Justice, which is unfortunately going to be a PS3 exclusive title.

Disgaea begins with the rather violent awakening of Laharl, the son of King Kriscevskoy, Overlord of the Netherworld. Unfortunate for him, he seems to have been sleeping for quite some time... so long, in fact, that Kriscevskoy has been dead for over two years, leaving the throne of the Netherworld empty. However, various demons have begun to make plans to take over the Netherworld. Laharl, being the rightful heir to the throne of the Netherworld, can't let this happen, meaning that it's up to him and his chief vassal Etna to set things right by beating the would-be overlords into submission. However, there are more forces at play here than just Laharl and his competition, and these outside forces just might tip the scales in ways that nobody could have expected.

Disgaea has an interesting take on the standard turn-based SRPG system. The first part is that instead of taking each turn unit-by unit, you set up a queue for your characters to perform their actions in order. This is important for a number of reasons. First, each successive attack in a queue gets a bonus, meaning the attacks at the end of the queue are potentially far more powerful than the first. Second, your characters can be "transmigrated" into another body while keeping their skills. This means that you can create a single character with a potentially massive list of skills to choose from. Finally, items can be customized by entering a place called the "item world" within an item and powering it up, moving inhabitants called "specialists" around to customize the boosts that the item gives.

If you're a fan of SRPGs, Disgaea is a great choice for veterans of the genre. Its depth and replayability is almost unparalleled, and easily better than many of the SRPGs out there right now. I highly suggest this to anyone interested in this kind of game. Until Next Time...
02:59 PM PDT Permalink |

Pokemon- The Eternal Franchise
Back in early 1996, a little-known game company called Game Freak released a game called Pokemon. This game, while possessing nearly no plot other than to take control of little monsters and use them to beat up other little monsters in order to become the best trainer of these "Pokemon", instantly became a massive hit for a number of reasons. It had a battle system very similar to many other games in the genre, but it broke one of the biggest stereotypes of the genre. Instead of being given a specific set of characters to use during your adventures, you were able to form your own team out of Pokemon that you collect on your travels. In the beginning, there were over 150 of these Pokemon to choose from- many of these Pokemon were simply evolved forms of previous ones, but some, such as the infamous Mewtwo, were legendary, there being only one of them in the entire game.

Over 10 years later, the franchise is still going strong. Not only did the franchise celebrate its tenth anniversary on February 27, 2006, but it's already into the fourth generation of games. Each generation corresponds to the releases for a specific system- Red/Blue/Yellow came out for the Game Boy, Gold/Silver/Crystal for the Game Boy Color, Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald came out for the Game Boy Advance, and most recently, Diamond and Pearl came out for the Nintendo DS. The game series is the second-most popular game series in history, bested only by the Mario series. Including the various spinoffs for systems like the Nintendo 64, Gamecube, and Wii, the franchise has sold a combined 180 million copies of its games. The Anime series that runs parallel to the game series has aired more than 550 episodes to this day, and is still going strong as one of the most popular Anime series in history.

While I was in Japan, I got to see this phenomenon first-hand. I wrote earlier of how Japan is obsessed with the series Neon Genesis Evangelion, but the amount of devotion the Japanese have to Pokemon puts that to shame. Everywhere I went, from convenience stores to supermarkets to game stores to train stations, there were advertisements for the latest of the Pokemon games, Pokemon Platinum (which just debuted in Japan about 2 weeks ago). It was also being debuted alongside the Pokemon movie, and people that went to see the movie were given a free event Pokemon for use in the game. Pokemon hype was everywhere, and while I'm a fan of the series, I couldn't understand just how this series could be so insanely popular after 10 years.

There's also a major competitive scene for Pokemon, maintained largely by Smogon University, and every generation has breathed new life into the competitive scene. Gold/Silver/Crystal added the new types Steel and Dark, as well as splitting the Special stat into Special Attack and Special Defense, and allowing Pokemon to hold items for use in battle. Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald added the concept of EVs, a way of specializing Pokemon into specific stats, allowing you to train them for specific roles such as offense, walling, or support. Diamond/Pearl split attacking moves into physical or special, allowing all Pokemon to take advantage of their major stats rather than being limited by their type. And to this day, the competitive scene is massive. There are tournaments held all over the world, online tournaments, Wi-Fi competition, and also competition using the Pokemon simulator known as Shoddy Battle, which I use on a regular basis.

It's unclear where the franchise is headed from here, but it's obvious that it's not stopping any time soon. Until Next Time...
02:41 PM PDT Permalink |

The Touhou Series- Some Games Hate The People Playing Them
Some games, for one reason or another, aren't meant to be played. Some are just too buggy to play, like the infamous Jurassic Park: Trespasser that Dreamworks turned out in 1998, much to the dismay of fans that were expecting the best game in decades. Some are just terrible, like John Romero's epic failure, Daikatana, which was hit by delay after delay and came out as an ugly game with terrible weapons, terrible level design, and a terrible storyline. And some are just so stunningly difficult that to attempt to play them would be pure folly. The most infamous of these games is a romhack of Super Mario World named Kaizo Mario World, which has gained infamy as one of the cruelest and most difficult games ever to be produced.

The Touhou series is an entire series of that last type of game. The Touhou series is a series of games known as Danmaku or Curtain Fire Shooting Games. This is a very literal description of the Touhou series. Enemies fire literal walls of bullets at you, and boss fights are the most effective displays of pure frustration that the world has ever seen. In a game where getting shot once will relieve you of one of your few lives, this game will have hundreds of bullets on-screen at any given time, requiring you to have pinpoint precision to dodge the never-ending torrents of death that hurtle towards your character. The only respite is that as large as your character seems, your actual hitbox is miniscule, meaning that as long as you can maneuver that tiny circle effectively, you'll be okay.

The entire Touhou series has a pretty simple storyline. It takes place in the world of Gensokyo, a realm where humans, beasts, and youkai (spirits) coexist. The majority of games center around Reimu Hakurei, the caretaker of the Hakurei Shrine, who is often called into action when malevolent youkai start causing trouble. On the other hand, there's Marisa Kirisame. Marisa is an absolutely shameless thief in pretty much every way. Not only does she steal physical belongings, her entire offensive arsenal is made up of spells stolen from other characters in the series. As such, she's pretty much dedicated to finding the most powerful beings in Gensokyo and then stealing all their stuff. She and Reimu are constant enemies, and as such, one is almost always a boss fight for the other when playing.

It takes real dedication to shoot-em-ups to want to play these games. Easy mode in the average Touhou game is comparable to the hardest mode in most other shoot-em-up games. If you can ever get your hands on one of them, play at your own risk. Until Next Time...
02:58 PM PDT Permalink |

My Short-Lived Career As A Sumo Wrestler

For the last five days of my stay in Japan, I traveled by car with Dr. Shimizu to the Kose Sports Park in Kofu to embark upon the improbable task of becoming a sumo wrestler. Each day of training lasted four hours, and was divided into five parts. First was the half-hour setup, in which we donned our mawashi belts and prepared the dohyo fighting ring with a layer of soft sand. Next, we prepared for the activities of the day with a half hour of warm-up stretches that ended with shiko, the traditional sumo stretch that requires lifting one leg high in the air while straightening the other, then bringing the leg down with force, and repeating with the other leg. The next and most important part of the training were the ninety-minute drills that teach the basic techniques of sumo.

After the drills, it was finally time for the actual sumo wrestling. We took turns competing in best-of-five matches against the other students, with each round lasting anywhere from ten seconds to two minutes or more, depending on the skill of each wrestler. Each day ended with sweeping and sifting the sand that lined the ring. And once the dohyo was all cleaned and prepared for the next users, we hit the showers, as sumo is quite the dirty sport. As much fun as the camp was, I always found myself looking forward to the end of a long, tiring, sweaty day of wrestling.

For me, the best part of the camp wasn't the wrestling itself, but learning about the technical aspects of Sumo. And in the end, I won more matches than I lost, so I suppose that my sumo career was a success. And it was certainly an amazing finale to a grand summer in Japan. Until next time...¦
10:52 PM PDT Permalink |

Cave Story- The Best Things In Life Are Free
In the early days of the internet, Freeware was all the rage. People would make little programs or games and distribute them to the public for no profit whatsoever, only the pride of making something that was useful or enjoyable for the community. Unfortunately, this has for the most part fallen by the wayside. Other than the wildly popular flash games on Newgrounds and the like, there are very few free games on the internet any more, and many of the new games that are coming out are overhyped and overpriced.

That's part of why Cave Story is such a great game. In 2004, a Japanese man going by the name of Studio Pixel created the game Cave Story, a fun and beautiful old-school 2D platformer in the style of the old Metroid games. This game was released as freeware in Japanese, available for anyone with a computer and the internet to download and play. This game was received so well that shortly after, an English translation patch was made available so that this great game could be made available to a larger audience.

I must say that this game is one of the best 2D platformers I've ever played, and I'm a huge fan of the genre in general, from the Metroid games to the Castlevania games to the Megaman games. And this game acts somewhat like a mixture of all three of them, except with more style and substance than any two games of the other genres. The level design is top-notch, with all manner of interesting and beautiful environments. Now, normally this wouldn't be very notable, except that when I say old-school graphics, I mean it. Even using graphics that were rendered obsolete before the project even started, this game looks beautiful. The character sprites are great, as well as being well-defined and making it easy to tell the characters apart from one another. The levels are easy to navigate, and it's hard to get lost in them. It's normally easy to fault an overly linear game setup, but there are enough secrets and various eccentricities to prevent the levels from ever getting stale or bland. The challenge level is raised gradually, but never stagnates, so there's always a new challenge at every point of the game.

The best part of this is that you can play this for free, right now! Go to the Cave Story Tribute Site and download Cave Story Deluxe for a version that will install itself with the patch already installed, as well as a bunch of other neat features. I highly recommend you do so, as Cave Story is an excellent game, and everyone should play it. Until Next Time...
02:49 PM PDT Permalink |

Akihabara- An Anime and Game Fan's Mecca
There are some places that people simply must visit. A place that brings together everything that they love and want. And for me, that place is Akihabara.

Akihabara, also known as "Akihabara Electric Town", has always been one of the premiere places to shop for electronics and appliances such as cameras, computer parts, music players, and even household appliances such as microwaves, air conditioners, and the like. However, within the past ten years, there has been a massive explosion of Anime and Gaming culture in Akihabara, leading to its evolution from a major electronics shopping area to a center of otaku culture.

While I was in Japan with my father, I made it very clear that one of our excursions had to take us to Akihabara. I had money that needed spending, and things that needed buying. The number one item on my list was a copy of the amazing fighting game Melty Blood Act Cadenza, which I had played with a friend's copy and decided that I wanted my own. I knew that if I went to Akihabara, there was no way that I couldn't find it. I was really hoping to get a copy of the latest Touhou fighting game, Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, but I found it unlikely that I would be able to find such a thing. (It turns out that I was right, as unfortunate as that is.) The next major target on my list was a bunch of figurines of characters from various Anime. Akihabara is famous for having a ton of little back-street shops where you can buy various things like figurines or trading cards, and I knew that the things I wanted would probably be available there.

http://weblogs.thingsasian.com/tablogs/resources/wraus/Collection.JPG

That was the end result of about 9000 yen of purchases. The big one was a box set of Melty Blood Act Cadenza, which ran me about 5500 Yen, but came with the two-disc soundtrack. I love the soundtrack to MBAC, so this is an amazing purchase. The rest are, of course, me being all obsessive about Tsukihime. I got myself figurines of Ciel, Yumizuka Satsuki, Akiha Tohno, and Arima Miyako. I was really hoping for a figure of Kohaku to go with my Hisui figure, but it was not to be.

In any case, Akihabara is an amazing place, and if you ever have the chance to go, then do so. Be sure to schedule at least a day or more, because it's easy to just lose time there while browsing around in all the amazing stores. Just be sure to explore. There's a lot of fantastic places off the beaten path there. Until Next Time...
04:44 PM PDT Permalink |

Computers Suck, or Why I Haven't Updated.
Let's get this straight. I have quite the love-hate relationship with computers. On the one hand, I love tinkering around with them, building custom computers, and messing around on the internet. On the other hand, when they don't work... I harbor nothing but hatred and malice for them. It's computers like my mother's that inspire the latter.

About two weeks ago, my mom went searching on the internet for a shop for some exotic spices for her blog, Chopstick Cinema. Her search led her to click on what looked like an innocuous Google Ad... but it was far from safe. Within minutes, her computer was infected with every nasty kind of virus on the internet. These things did an absolute number on her computer, with every kind of nasty symptom that a computer can get. However, even after the viruses were gone, the problems just kept on coming.

Every couple hours, her computer would flip out and give a Blue Screen of Death. Now, it took us about a week to pin down what was causing it, and we eventually started tracking it down... until it got ANOTHER one. This one was much worse, preventing the computer from even starting. I managed to fix it by using the Windows XP Recovery Console, but that just set us back at square one. Eventually, we diagnosed the problem, but only after getting yet another Blue Screen. I realized that it was a hard drive problem, but mom just wouldn't rest until I performed a repair on her installation of Windows. And oh the irony, the repair absolutely destroyed her computer.

Finally, she just bought a whole new laptop, which is working fine. There's still a bunch of stuff to be done with it, but it looks like for now, I'll be done with the tedious computer work.

Until Next Time...
01:58 PM PDT Permalink |

The World Ends With You- Making the DS Shine
There have been some great titles for the DS so far, but one of the ones that I've been looking forward to is The World Ends With You, an RPG with great style, a unique battle system, and an interesting storyline. And you know, I was afraid that the game wouldn't even come close to living up to the hype. But, much to my delight, it exceeded even my high expectations.

You play as Neku Sakuraba, an introverted teenager who finds himself passed out in the middle of Shibuya with no memories whatsoever. Upon waking, he is immediately attacked by strange creatures called Noise, which he finds himself completely unable to fight off... that is, until he joins up with Shiki Misaki, the only person he's been able to talk to since waking in Shibuya. Neku learns that he's apparently been chosen to participate in "The Reaper's Game", a "game" that consists of performing missions over the space of seven days in order to win an unknown prize. However, strange forces are at work during this Game, and Neku may be far more integral in the Game than he would ever think...

While the storyline is excellent, the combat is also top-notch. You attack with Pins, badges that, when equipped, enable their requisite attacks in battle. These attacks are enabled by a number of inputs, from scribbling on the screen, to tapping an enemy, to slashing across the screen, to even blowing into the microphone. However, the best part comes from the fact that you have to also use the D-Pad to attack on the top screen with your partner while using the touch-screen to attack on the bottom. (Lefties can use ABXY to attack on the top if they're so inclined.) While it seems unwieldy at first, it's not actually that hard once you get used to it. And if you just can't figure it out... the game has an Auto-Play system that will allow the computer to take over for the top screen character.

However, the biggest part of it is that there are ways to take the grind out of item drops. You have what's called a Drop Rate, which is 1 default. However, there are ways to manipulate this to your advantage. The first is to give yourself a level penalty. Every level gives you 50 bonus HP. However, you may choose to lower your level, and thus trade 50 HP for a +1 drop multiplier. For example, if you're level 10, but you choose to fight as if you were level 3, you would have a bonus x7 multiplier, for a grand total of x8 drop rate. You can also "chain" battles together, fighting a series of battles as a single all-or-nothing battle. Each extra battle multiplies your total drop rate. For example, if you chain 3 battles together, that previously x8 drop rate becomes a whopping x24 drop rate. While it can seem overkill sometimes, this is important when going for late-game pins. There are enemies that have a .13% drop rate on their pin. However, since I'm at level 90, I can fight as if I were level 1 to get an x90 multiplier. I can then chain a couple battles, getting up to a ridiculous x360 multiplier. That means that the previously godawful .13% drop rate is now upwards of 40%, a number that I'm MUCH more keen on.

The World Ends With You is a phenomenal game, possibly the best game currently available for the DS. I urge anyone and everyone to buy this game. You won't regret it. Until Next Time...
05:49 PM PDT Permalink |

The Legacy of Neon Genesis Evangelion
Trends come and go. Things that used to be fashionable fall out of style, and shows that used to be popular drop off of the face of the earth without a second thought. However, some things never get old. And in Japan, that something is the epic Anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. Even though Evangelion has just become 12 years old, its creator, Hideaki Anno, said that, "[O]ver the past 12 years, there has been no anime newer than Eva."

And for good reason. After all this time, there are still mysteries to be unraveled about the series, from the massive amount of references to Christian mythos, to the cryptic, psychoanalytical ending of the original series, to the apocalyptic End of Evangelion, the alternate ending that raised far more questions than it provided answers. It's been re-released at least three times, with the low-quality episodes 21-26 entirely re-animated and remastered for the new releases. However, that's not all that Neon Genesis Evangelion has going for it.

During my trip to Japan, Neon Genesis Evangelion was absolutely everywhere that I turned. There was no way to get away from it, its presence was that large. Here are some of the more interesting and amusing places that it popped up.

- Convenience stores in Japan such as Circle-K, Lawson Station, and Seven-Eleven oftentimes carry Anime figurines in the stores for sale. In a number of places, there were for sale figurines of the EVAs or of the Angels, and one store in particular had for sale in the figurine section a huge 12-inch figure of Unit 00 on sale for 3000 Yen. I was tempted to buy it, but realized that there was no way I'd ever make it home with it in one piece, so I opted against it.

- The Japanese have a great love of fireworks, and during the summer season, there are fireworks shows held on a regular basis that easily eclipse even the biggest Fourth-of-July shows in the US. Near the end of our trip, my father and I visited one near the city we stayed in. This particular fireworks show was approximately an hour long, and was done in shifts, with each two or three minute burst of fireworks being fired in tandem with a particular piece of music. The music that accompanied the opening burst of fireworks? You guessed it- the opening theme of Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Cruel Angel's Thesis, playing for the opening of a massive summer fireworks show.

-This last one needs a little explanation. Pachinko is a form of pseudo-legalized gambling in Japan, and Pachinko (and Slot) parlors are absolutely everywhere in Japan, and every single one is packed 24-7. Pachinko is basically a rapid-fire pinball machine that, with a little luck, activates a slot reel in the middle, which will sometimes pay out a massive amount of balls, which can either be fed back into the machine or traded in to the house. Of course, gambling for money is illegal in Japan, so the balls in question are traded in for tokens that can be spent on various prizes ranging from cigarette lighters and pens, to low-end electronics, to even things like 50cc scooters. Of course, this isn't enough for the average gambler, so near every Pachinko parlor is a place similar to a pawn shop that buys prizes from players in exchange for cash. In order to drum up more business, Pachinko machines commonly have designs that are meant to attract the player and keep them engaged. The latest trend in Pachinko machines is to have machines with designs based on Neon Genesis Evangelion, of course, with the machines featuring screens that will periodically show footage from the show, especially during payout periods, in order to keep the player interested and playing.

It's amazing that a show can have such a massive country-wide following, but it's unsurprising for a show of Evangelion's quality. Until Next Time...
09:33 PM PDT Permalink |

The Return of the Blog
Well, I'm finally back from my trip to Japan, and I must say that I had an absolute blast over there. My father and I spend a good six weeks wandering about Japan, from the urban jungle of Tokyo to the rural northern areas of Japan. Over the past six weeks, I did the following:

- The majority of the trip was spent in the care of the Shimizu family, and without them, the trip wouldn't have been possible. They allowed us to stay in their home in Kofu for the time we were there, provided us with a car, and many other things that made the trip possible.

- A trip to Tokyo in which I visited the place of my birth, as well as the Kamakura Daibutsu, a massive copper Buddha once housed inside a great wooden temple until a tsunami washed over it, sweeping away all but the statue. An amazing sight, and one that I hope to see again in the future.

- A huge week-long trip up to Hokkaido, in which we stayed for three days in Sapporo with another member of the Shimizu family before making our way down Northern Japan, with stops in Hakodate, Aomori, Ojiya, and Kanazawa. An amazing trip through rural Japan with many sights that the average tourist never gets to see.

- A second trip to Tokyo, only this time to visit the famed "Electric Town" of Akihabara. Akihabara is the stuff of legends, a place that must be seen to be believed. An oasis of anything computer, game, or Anime-related, Akihabara is the place where you'll find anything you could ever want.

- To end the trip, the father of the Shimizu family is a doctor, and every year hosts a Sumo Wrestling camp for some med students. Since I was in the area at the time, I got to participate in this, and I must say that it was an absolutely amazing experience. Sumo Wrestling has a lot more tactics and finesse than it seems at first glance, and it was a great way to end an excellent trip.

To catch back up, I'll be writing two blogs a week for the next six weeks- the blog will be updated on Wednesday and Saturday/Sunday. Thanks to all my readers.

Until Next Time...
12:39 PM PDT Permalink |

Bound For Japan

On Thursday, July 3rd, I'll be leaving on a six-week vacation to Japan with my father, lasting from July 3rd until August 17th. As of right now, our plans aren't entirely finalized, but I'm sure that whatever we end up doing there will be absolutely amazing. My internet access will likely be spotty at best, so the Blog won't be updated for a while, but rest assured that I'll return with plenty of amazing stories about my travels.

Until Next Time...
04:17 PM PDT Permalink |

Kung Fu Panda- Fun On A Grand Scale
I'll admit- I'm rarely excited about new movies when they come out- the majority of new movies are uninspired and uninteresting. However, every once in a while, there's a movie that really manages to pique my interest and get me motivated to see it. This most recent one is Kung Fu Panda, an animated Martial Arts Comedy in the style of the old Jackie Chan movies, with an all-star cast of actors doing the voicework. With Jack Black as the lead, Kung Fu Panda was a movie that gave me even more than the high expectations I had for it.

Jack Black plays Po, a panda whose dreams of being a Kung Fu master seem impossible from his life as the son of the owner of a noodle shop. However, when the great Tai Lung (Ian McShane), a brutal leopard warrior, escapes from his legendary prison, the Dragon Warrior must be named from the great Furious Five- Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Viper (Lucy Liu), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogan), and Monkey (Jackie Chan). However, it would appear that the universe has its own agenda, and Po finds himself being chosen as the legendary Dragon Warrior, heir to the Dragon Scroll that holds the key to infinite power, much to the dismay of Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), the sensei of the Furious Five and the only student of Oogway, an ancient tortoise and creator of Kung Fu.

I loved everything about Kung Fu Panda. The animation is beautiful, and it creates an amazing atmosphere for the rest of the film. The voice casting was excellent, especially Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman, whose work absolutely makes the film what it is. The battle sequences are well-choreographed and have that same slapstick fighting style that made the old Jackie Chan movies so great. The entire movie was excellent from start-to-finish, and I can't even think of a single criticism to draw upon.

Until Next Time...
07:40 PM PDT Permalink |

Final Fantasy 3: Square's Latest Revival
In the history of the Final Fantasy series, there have been a couple that never really made it state-side. The first two, Final Fantasy 2 and Final Fantasy 5, were remade for the Game Boy Advance, and were met with relative success. With this same idea in mind, Final Fantasy 3 was remade for the newly released Nintendo DS, updated with new Jobs, new equipment, and a fully 3D game world. The plot was pretty standard for the early Final Fantasy games- the world is shrouded in darkness caused by an evil entity, and four Warriors of Light must travel around the world in search of the legendary Crystals and gain power in order to defeat an ultimate evil.

Final Fantasy 3 introduced the Job system, a system that allows the player to choose customizable classes for their characters, thus allowing the largest degree of versatility for the player. This system would return in Final Fantasy 5, and then much later in Final Fantasy X-2. As you progress through the game, you will meet the Crystals, each of which pertaining to a specific enemy. Each one unlocks a set of jobs, thus allowing more and more options for team setups as the game goes on. Each class has its own base stats, which change depending on the class equipped, and each class can equip certain types and levels of magic, as well as certain types of equipment. Also, each job levels on its own via Job Levels, which primarily affects the class' special ability, as well as Mages' magic power and Monks' unarmed attacks. Magic is handled differently from any other FF game: instead of having set MP, magic is organized into levels. More powerful magic is higher level, and certain classes can equip certain levels and types of magic. Every class that can cast Magic has a limited number of casts in each magic level- At any given level, you can only cast so much magic of each level until you must heal at an Inn or a restoration fountain.

Unfortunately, the game has many shortcomings which impair the experience. The touch-screen inputs are unwieldy, and the abilities of the DS are rather underused. The Top Screen isn't used in battle or in dungeons, and its only use is for the World Map, which is the part of the map that players will see the least. The Job system implements a penalty for changing classes, and as such, players are discouraged from taking advantage of the versatility that changing classes affords. Many of the classes are entirely useless, either being outclassed by other classes or just not being useful in general. The difficulty ramps up far faster than the power of the party, and often, regular enemies will two-shot party members, and bosses will one-shot them, forcing the player to endure boring grinding in order to even progress at all. The inventory screen doesn't allow you to examine items closely, meaning that while certain equipment will give bonuses to stats, it's impossible to know what does what because it's never mentioned anywhere. And last, but certainly not least, the plot never actually does anything. There's never more than two plot scenes in any given story "arc", characters are never relevant past their initial arrival in the game, and the characters are entirely without depth. Also, there are very few opportunities to save the game, and with the insane power of some of the bosses, you'll find yourself having to truck through the entire dungeon again, since the last time you could save was on the World Map at the beginning of the area.

All in all, my opinion of Final Fantasy 3 is much like my opinion of a later game with the same style- Final Fantasy X-2. The combat system is fun, and the gameplay is unteresting, but the plot and mechanics make it unwieldy and hard to enjoy the game to the fullest. FF3 is a time-waster at best, but it's good for quick RPG action without a lot of involvement. Until Next Time...
03:48 PM PDT Permalink |